Expat Retirees Face Pension Gap

A new report has been released that suggests a growing number of expats in retirement are facing a gap between the lifestyle they want and the pension they are receiving.

30% of retired expats say that their pension income is not enough to sustain their lifestyles. 52% of working age expats say that they will have to reduce their spending upon retirement.

High costs of living in the UK mean that a large proportion of expats (measured at 47% by the survey) believe that their pension income will go further abroad than in the UK.

Emiko Caerlewy-Smith, Associate Director at Lloyds TSB International, said: “A growing pension gap is a real worry for many expats, some of who will have to significantly scale back the lifestyle they have been used to. These worries have been particularly compounded for retired expats who draw a UK pension income, but spend in their local currency, as it means they are running a currency risk on perhaps all of their income.

“An alternative approach could be for expats to transfer their UK pension into the currency of the country in which they have retired to, or plan to retire to, thus eliminating exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations.

"Various international pension arrangements exist to serve the needs of British nationals working or retiring abroad. Your pension can be one of your greatest lifetime assets so we would always suggest customers seek professional financial advice in this area.”